Edward weston-



(No Model.)

B. WESTON.

SOCKET 0R HOLDER FOR INOANDESOENT LAMPS.

No. 320,027. Patented June 16, 1885.

fittest.-

NITED TATES EDWARD WEsT'o N," OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED STATES ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SOCKET OR HOLDER FOR INCANDESCENT LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,027, dated June 16, 1885.

Application filed October 20, 1884.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDW'ARD WESTON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and 5 State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sockets or Holders for Incandescent Lamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.

The subject of a patent granted to the United States Electric Lighting Company, as my asslgnee, May 6, 1884, No. 298,142, is a holder for incandescent lamps in which terminal con- 1 tactsprings are arranged in a socket and the lamp is supplied with a cylindrical base carrying contact-plates that encounter the springs when the lamp is placed in the holder. The base of the lamp has projections that fit under the flanged rim of the socket and serve to hold the lamp in position.

I have elsewhere shown other forms of looking device for holding the lamp in the socket against the force of the springs, the objects in 2 5 all being, however, the same-to secure good electrical contacts, and to prevent the lamp from becoming detached from the holder or from being injured in any way when removed by unskilled persons.

My present invention consists in a new and simple form of locking device applicable to this holder, the essential features of which are as follows: The socket and the lamp-base are both provided with flat flanges that are brought into contact, or nearly so, when the lamp is forced down into its seat. In the upper surface of the socket-flange are setpins with heads, and in the flange of the base are cut slots with a wide portion to permit the passage of the pin-heads when the flanges are brought together.

In this and in equivalent arrangements my present invention consists. It is of course immaterial in many respects which of the flanges is slotted and which contains the pins, or what may be the special character of the pins or the slots.

I will now describe the details of this improvement by reference to the accompanying 5o drawings.

(No model.)

Figure 1 is aview in elevation and part section of a socket and portions of a lamp. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the socket, and Fig. 3 is a section through the socket and lamp-base on the line a: w of Fig. l.

Inasmuch as all the principal features of this device, with exception of the special form of locking device, are fully described in my patent referred to, the description will be confined mainly to the said locking device. Bis a cylindrical box or casing with provision for attaching the same to a gas-pipe or bracketarm, and containing the switch,of which A is the key or handle. Above this is the cylindrical socket proper O, composed of sheet metal,and formed with a straight flanged rim, D. Within this socket is a perforated cup or plate, E, of insulating material, to which two contact springs, F H, are secured, one, F, beneath and over the perforation, the other, H, above and partly surrounding the perforation. The switch-wires are connected to these springs. To the neck of the lamp is applied, by plaster-of-paris or any suitable cement, a sheetmetal cylinder, K. The end of this is closed by a plug,G, of insulating material,with acentral projection, L. The lamp terminals are secured to this plug, one to the end of the projection L, the other in the form of a ring around it on the flat face of the plug. When the lamp-base is inserted in the socket, the projection L enters the perforation in plate E and the lamp and socket terminals are brought into contact, the springs F H exerting'a tendency to force the lamp out of the socket. The upper edge or rim of the cylinder Kis turned over in a flange,N, at right angles to the sides of the cylinder, and the relative proportions and positions of all the parts named are such that when the lamp-base is forced down firmly in its seat the surfaces of the two flanges l) and N are brought in contact. In one of the flanges, as D, two pins,a,with enlargedheads are inserted, and at points corresponding to the positions of these pins slots 12 are cut in the other flange, N. The slots are concentric with the cylinder K, and have wider portions to admit the heads of pins a,either at one end, as shown, or at any other point or points. When the lampis placed in its socket, it is 100 forced down and turned so that the heads of the pins project up through the flange M. It is then turned so that the pins enter the narrower parts of the slots, which holds the lamp firmly in place. Depressions d may be formed in the flange M, into which the heads of the pins a settle and prevent displacement of the lamp by jarring or ordinary use.

The metal portions of the socket may be cast, turned, or spun, and the specific construction of the same, and of the parts contained in it, may be greatly varied without departing from the invention.

What I claim is 1. A socket or holder containing spring1 contacts and formed with a flange in which are set pins a a, in combination with an incandescent lamp and base having terminal EDWARD WESTON.

Witnesses:

H. A. BEOKMEYER, M. M. GARVER. 

